Portfolio Updates: Actor Ben Fransham

Last minute shoot for local Actor Ben Fransham.

...more to come...

Portraits And Headshots Of Signy

A couple of weekend pics of my colleague Signy Bjorg Gudlaugsdottir (Iceland). The original plan was to take some personal portraits of her as a Photographer, but then she told me she used to model back in Iceland and wouldn't mind getting a few new headshots for her portfolio as well. So we worked with what we had at hand in terms of outfits, lighting and location and came up with some pretty good images. Not that you can tell from these images, but yes, being Icelandic she does have blonde hair and blue eyes.

Signy is also a Photographer so I wanted to do a Photographer's Portrait of her.

Portfolio Shoot: Renee Cataldo (Part 2)

Second session with Renee. The empahsis on this shoot was to do a bunch of headshots and then do a shot down on Lambton Quay with her running in the dress. In the end I didn't want to rush the Lambton Quay shoot, plus traffic in the city was pretty heavy that day due to several events along the waterfront and it being an awesome day weather-wise, so we ended up just staying indoors doing headshots and other fun shots. I couldn't have asked for a better location to shoot than her apartment as it's totally amazing for photos. Big, lots of clear wallspace to shoot against, BIG, amazing light in every room...even the bathroom had wicked light!!! Did I mention BIG? Plus it was just so convenient for the both of us to be able to be in our own space with nobody bothering us, and the comfort of being in her own apartment with all her wardrobe and makeup options.

This is now one of my favourite processed black and white looks for headshots. While processing a black and white shot from one of Laura Surrich's shoots last year, I ended up with a look that resembled a pencil sketch that I thought was interesting. The shot above is a further refinement of that style.

Man I love Renee's long hair, there's just so many things you can do with it :) Unfortunately I didn't remember to try any of the other quirky hair shots I had wanted to do...maybe next time.

Slightly alternative colour toning. I like it as a 'stylized portrait' but I'll have to wait and see what she thinks of it. No she's not naked, it's just cropped to look that way for a clean and uncluttered headshot.

I had mentioned doing a compilation of different expressions but this isn't it, we didn't really shoot any specifically, these are just some that I caught along the way.

For the past year or so I've been in love with backlit shots after seeing a couple really talented photogs on flickr rocking them (Kevin Russ and MGM). There's just something very etheral about them. I don't get to shoot them very often though as it requires either very early morning or very late afternoon sunlight, low in the sky which means you also need a somewhat clear line of sight to the horizon or at least no downtown office buildings or local mountains getting in the way. You can do similar things in studio but it usually requires a lot of light output. In the case of Renee's apartment though, an entire west facing wall of floor to ceiling frosted glass will do the trick! So nice how the blown out light source from behind wraps around all sides of your subject...except in this case there's no bonus lens flare...oh well.

Alternate processing of two nearly identical shots.

...more to come...

Portraits of Brittany

My Sunday morning with Brittany...such a great smile...

I've seen quite a few people do this shot and I've always liked it, just never remembered to shoot it, til now. Photo looking down onto the viewfinder.

...more to come...

Portraits of Brittany & Greg

This Saturday I had lunch with Count Toasty at Soi. We had planned to scout the local headquarters of the Wellington Coast Guard for an upcoming calendar photoshoot we're supposed to do, more on that some other time. The Coast Guard HQ is at the end of Evans Bay Parade, and Soi is about 2 minutes down the road. I hadn't been to Soi in a few months so suggested we have lunch there first. Good choice as it turns out that's how I'd come to meet Brittany...super nice girl and obviously very pretty, gorgeous eyes.

So on Sunday we arranged to meet up in town and have a chat about doing some photos together...and that's how I met Greg, Brittany's boyfriend. Now looking at these two you might assume they were brother and sister, and you might also assume that they have a Nordic heritage...wrong on both counts. They do sometimes freak people out by answering 'yes' to the brother sister question, and then kissing each other...HAHA...ahh, I'd pay to see someone's reaction to that. And in fact they both have Scottish heritage...I never would've guessed. And to put another little twist on things, the "Wellington is waaaay too small" curse has struck again :) ...turns out Brittany is good friends with Dana, and her mom also works at the travel agency that handles Weta's accounts.

So hopefully in the next month or so I'll get to shoot some fun stuff with Brittany, and we're trying to get Greg to agree to step into the frame and shoot some "Calvin Kleiny - Giorgio Armani'ish" couple shots with Brittany. They're both really laid back and very easy to get along with, so I'm looking forward to shooting with them :) ....stay tuned...

Some alternate processes looks.

Homer's BBQ

So this past Saturday one of my officemates, let's call him John Homer, had a little open house BBQ. I THINK in Kiwi tradition, you fire up the bar-b and then just invite people to drop by throughout the day/evening...or maybe that's just how it turned out.

It was an eclectic yet interesting mix of Weta employees and doctors (John's housemate Adam is a doctor). Just like a grade school dance but instead of boys on one side and girls on the other, it was computer geeks on one side and medical nerds on the other...haha...nah, just joking. Actually everyone mixed and mingled quite freely, couldn't ask for a better group to spend a nice sunny afternoon with. Who knew we could all get along so well!

The Host. Homer's house has an awesome patio for entertaining with nice views over the city. Seen here chillin' with Shannon and Denise...and some Johnnie Black. I decided I would blind them all by practicing some Strobist twilight shots. Not bad for my first attempt, but I also had Jogle by my side helping me out. Thanks James!

The view through the kitchen window out onto the patio. The counter-to-ceiling windows in the kitchen open out fully to the patio, like I said, an awesome setup for parties. And yes, there was a lot to eat and drink.

Ameria (Adam's girlfriend, far right) caught me taking candid portraits earlier and when she saw me with the camera later on, she 'hammed it up' for me a little and I almost missed this shot cause I wasn't expecting it.

Couple of candid portraits. The afternoon light on the patio was too nice to pass up. Hiding in the back of the kitchen and shooting 'commando style' through the open windows, I was amazed at how many people caught me in the act...haha. My colleague Christine seems to have some sixth sense at knowing when I'm pointing a camera in her direction...it's almost spooky how she knows :P

Christine, fellow Cretard and Canuck. This is one of the only pictures I got where she wasn't giving me the 'evil eye' for photographing her...heh heh :P

Judith, she works on the film side of Weta.

Lei, she doesn't work for Weta, she's Lonnie's girlfriend. Lonnie and I are in the same office.

Agustine, affiliated with the Argies. This guy has the most insane card tricks.

Jogle, aka James. He totally knew I was taking a shot of him but played along and pretended not to look :)

Last one, not so candid though. Sarah and James.